Taking the Training Wheels Off
by darkestangel1326
Summary: It started out simply, really. All the blonde wanted was to learn how to ride a her bike before college, but found it a lot harder than it seems. One bike crash, a pink haired hunk/jerk, taunting and another crash later, Lucy finds herself in the other side of Magnolia, in front of a bar/resturant/mechanic's shop/swimming pool/stage building known as Fairy Tail.
1. Give me a Brake

**A/N: Holy Weird. I went from being a Hey Arnold! author to a quick dabble into FT (on tumblr) then a quick dabble into Naruto and now I'm back with FT. That's because I just love this universe so much!**

I wrote a thing based off a prompt from themultifandomnerd's Stranger's AU prompt list. I was also inspired by missyplatina's fanfics recently (specifically Virtual Flames and Texting Fire), since they kept me giggling until 5am for the two days last week xD

I wonder if you can guess the prompt based off the title and story :3 I'll put it at the end if you're interested!

 **Disclaimer: As much as I would love to own Natsu-I MEAN FAIRY TAIL AND ITS CHARACTERS AND ORIGINAL CONCEPT- I CAN'T :'( Darn :/**

* * *

She sighed as she stared at the white ceiling of her room. It was a Saturday morning like any other for the outside world, but for the blonde teen, staring at her ceiling, today was the first day of training. She sighed as she hastily threw some clothes on and got her equipment ready.

As ecstatic as she was about getting into her number one choice University this Fall, recently, she paled slightly upon realizing an important detail; her University and the corresponding town were big on bikes. Almost all the students and residents rode their bikes, even in harsh weather conditions. Plus the fact that bike licenses and bike tickets were also highly monitored by the city. Her new home was quite literally a bike happy town and it couldn't have made her more miserable.

She gulped as she climbed down the stairs with her helmet and gear and walked towards the garage where she uncovered her bike. Her new (but technically used), completely yellow, bike.

The truth about Lucy Heartfilia was that she was not a bike fanatic; quite the opposite actually. She never learned how to ride a bike properly, and there were specific reasons why that was. She shuddered at the thoughts.

Despite her memories flooding back and her sense of impending doom looming over her head, Lucy was determined to ride this yellow monstrosity. Maybe not to the level of expertise some possessed, but at least enough for her to break without falling and keep her balance while riding; she'd take the bus on stormy days, she decided.

She walked the bike to a nearby park a few streets away from her house and was internally grateful for having bought shin pads, since the pedal kept hitting the front of her leg. _I bet that'd leave a nasty bruise without the guard,_ she mused as she approached the grassy area of the park.

She had chosen what could possibly be described as the flattest park in the city, with few hills and only slight inclinations elsewhere. The bike path was a bit old and broken, but the abundance of grass eased her worries about injuries. The shin, elbow, and forearm guard also helped ease said worries.

 _Ok Lucy, you can do this. Just take it slow. There's still a few weeks until move-in date. You can totally learn the basics by then!_

The blonde went to the middle of the almost deserted park, where the inclination was nonexistent and focused on learning balance first. She would've preferred to have someone help her in person throughout this entire process, but it seemed like everyone had already learned how to ride their bikes when they were younger; what's worse is that no one she talked to was able to give Lucy tips. She had to rely on Youtube videos and practically memorized one video in particular.

Lucy began by trying to adjust her seat; her bike was two inches too tall and even though she was shown where to pull to adjust the height of the bike, she just couldn't get a good grip on the little lever.

"Why is this so hard to do? I haven't even started riding yet!" she whispered to herself. After a few minutes of what must have been hilarious Daffy Duck like fiddling, she shrugged off the two inches. What was two extra inches, right?

She failed to realize that those two inches separated her toes from reaching the ground. She cursed her short height but decided to still keep trying what the video showed her.

First, balance with one leg on the pedal and one leg moving forward on the ground. _A lot easier said than done,_ she thought dryly. She couldn't adjust her bike to accommodate that position. She was either standing because of her foot on the ground, with a slight tilt to one side or she was tilting awkwardly to fit the position. When she tried to ride away, she found herself going in circles, because of the tilt.

She was still able to get the hang of the balance thing though, and soon kept trying to bring her other leg up to the pedal. _Maybe I don't actually need the seat lowered,_ she thought with a spreading grin on her face.

Maybe it wasn't such a bad thing that her new home was a bike town. Maybe-

There was a curve approaching on the path, and although not remotely dangerous, the curve would force her to lean on the opposite side more than the one she was currently leaning on.

In other words, to make the turn, she would have to not rely on the ground for support. And she wasn't sure she could do it. She wasn't even sure she should be approaching this curve so quickly either and just as she was about to stop, she remembered the shopkeeper tell her this bike's handlebar brakes were in need of a tune up to work properly.

She was supposed to stop the bike with her feet…the feet that couldn't touch the floor because her seat was too high. _At least there's grass,_ she thought as the curve got closer. She waited until she reached the grassy area past the curve and then let go of the bike only for it to get stuck in her sweats's fabric, make her trip over the metal frame as it fell.

Once again, she was thankful for bringing all this protective equipment.

She groaned in slight discomfort, not from pain but from the suddenly moving world. She closed her eyes in hopes of calming her eyesight. She looked up at a summer blue sky and couldn't help thinking this was way more peaceful than falling off a stupid yellow bike anyway.

She sat up and sighed but started to dust her clothes off, blades of grass clinging stubbornly to the fabric, when she saw a hand reach out to her. A tanned hand. She looked up only to see pink hair arranged in disorganized spikes.

 _Pink hair!?_

She was so entranced by the exotic hair, she missed the dark, slanted eyes that showed green undertones with the sunlight, a scaly looking scarf (being worn in the summer?) draped slightly over a dark red shirt with a black outline of a dragon and black cargo pants, and a grin showing off pearly white fangs and teeth.

"Thanks," she muttered, standing and quickly retracting her hand with a flush. She frowned slightly. It was summer and 7am at that! She was really hoping no one her age would be up but here she was proven wrong by this pink haired guy.

Who was staring at her.

She looked up and saw his grin shift to a smirk, which attempted to hold in laughter, but did so in an obvious way.

 _Jerk,_ she thought immediately, completely aware of her failed attempt to turn. On a flat bike path. With no inclination. Because she could not reach the ground. Because she was two inches too short for a bike two inches too tall.

"I know you don't know me," his voice began, low and clam, and snapped Lucy out of her thoughts, "and I _definitely_ don't know you…" He paused. She looked at him again and saw that poorly hidden laugh tug at his lips.

 _Don't say it_ , she thought. _Please dear God, don't say it._

"-but you really suck at riding this bike," he chuckled and she rolled her eyes. Of course. Not like she didn't already know that. Who in the hell was this guy anyway? Acting so polite at first only to laugh at her right afterwards! The word 'jerk' flashed in her mind once more but then she heard a cough.

He looked at her expectantly and she stared back blankly. He shook his head in what must have been amused disbelief. "So I guess I'll teach you how to ride right now to save you from future embarrassment," he finished and Lucy's eyes became as wide as dinner plates.

A beat of silence and staring.

"WHATTT?" She screamed, causing the pink haired guy to flinch away at the high pitched voice. She smirked, smug she got him back a little, even if it was a little petty at this point. She was just kinda sensitive about the bike stuff, and having a pink haired hunk (he was toned ok!? Someone can be a hunk and a jerk too!) help you, then say you suck at riding said bike, then offer to help you learn to save yourself from "future embarrassment" (Lucy rolled her eyes at the phrase again) was a bit overwhelming.

She was actually surprised she didn't scream sooner.

"I asked if you had anyone who could help you learn to ride your bike and you just kinda looked at me like you were lost so I offered to teach you to save-"

"Yeah yeah embarrassment I get it," she waved off and glared at him.

 _How could I even trust him? I don't even know his name yet!_ She thought to herself.

"I'm Natsu by the way," he adding, as if reading her mind, and extended his hand with the intention to shake hers.

 _Well at least now I know his name,_ she corrected and exchanged handshakes.

"Lucy" she added curtly and saw him chuckle again. She saw a flash of fangs before he withdrew his hand.

He glanced over the bike, almost forgotten about, laying on the grassy patch and then cracked his knuckles. "Let's see what I got myself into."

* * *

"Why would someone even buy a bike that was too tall for them anyone?" he grumbled, working the lever under the seat. The lever which was a bit too tight.

"Well it was this bike at a cheap price or a smaller bike at three times the cost. I'd rather not break the bank over a piece of metal, thank you very much," she guarded, completely aware of her mistake. Not like she didn't beat herself up over it already.

"Better to break the bank than buy something useless," he grumbled back. He got up and stretched, turning away from the bike and blonde. "Maybe I should just stop and let you learn with the height handicap. It could be useful later," he offered.

"It won't be useful if I can't learn to begin with," she shot back, smug she used similar logic on him. She crouched down near the seat while balancing on the balls of her feet. "I. REFUSE. TO. LET. THIS. BIKE. BEAT ME," she exclaimed, pulling the lever between each word to emphasize her point.

"You know, that might not work all that well-" he turned back upon hearing her exclamation and saw her now sitting. His eyes looked at the lever, expecting it to be as tight as it was a few seconds ago.

But it wasn't.

 _Well shit,_ he thought amused at her sudden strength. He gave himself credit for loosening it up though, but still. _Damn._

"I DID IT!" she yelled excitedly, as she brought the seat down and locked the lever again. She got on the bike again and sighed, still a bit annoyed. Yes the seat went down, but she was still off the ground again, though only by a margin of an inch. _Better than nothing._

* * *

"You're gonna have to bring your other foot up to the pedal sooner or later!"

"I prefer later!"

They had been at the park for about an hour now. Lucy was finally getting the hang of balancing herself on one pedal but almost immediately lost balance when trying to bring her other foot up to the pedal. She was psuedo-pedaling over a hilly region of the park now, feeling comfortable doing that much with her balancing.

"I'm not gonna be here all day you know," he cautioned.

"Really? Then who's gonna save me from 'embarrassing myself in the future'," she quipped.

"'Save you from future embarrassment', Luigi, get it right!" he countered and she stopped moving. She turned to him and he could swear he saw a menacing, purple aura surrounding her.

"What did you call me?" she hissed back, causing him to gulp nervously.

"It was a joke! To see if you were paying attention," he continued, cautiously, unsettled by her sudden anger. And he watched her stay still, the aura only slightly dissipating.

"Then what's my real name?" she responded lowly, mentally deciding that if he didn't actually know, he'd pay.

"Huh? Your real name? It's Lucy, right?" he responded, still confused and cautious.

She looked away and felt a flush on her cheeks. Odd, but there was something about the way he said it. Something about it made it sound natural, as if they'd known each other for years already.

Snapping out of her thought, she nodded approvingly and turned to look in front of her once more, purple aura completely gone.

 _Just keep pedaling. Just keep pedaling,_ she thought to herself as she finally brought her other foot on the pedal and laughed giddily at the unintentional reference to Finding Nemo.

She was pedaling! She was really doing it!

"Hey Lucy! What if I call you Luce instead?"

The next thing Lucy remembered seeing was the grassy patch in the sky.

* * *

"Luce! Wake up! C'mon Luce!"

She felt her eyes struggle to open and then felt the sting of the sudden light in her eyes. _What happened?_

Her mind flashed to her sudden break. She gripped one of the crappy handlebar brakes when still pedaling down the hill and jerked her handlebar towards the grass slightly before the bike's brake halted the front tire. Her bike's back tire, as well as her continued pedaling and gravity must have caused her think it was better to let go of the handlebar instead of stopping the bike with her feet. The mistake was so painfully obvious now that she was laying down on the grass, awake after being unconscious for who knows how long.

"You're finally awake," she heard Natsu say in what sounded like a relieved sigh.

 _Relieved?_

"Yeah. Now I see why the shop keeper told me to check out the handlebar brakes. Those things must be hooked up to the wrong wheel," she noted. Just then, she turned her head away, completely embarrassed that she fell off her bike for such a stupid mistake. Again. In front of the pink haired hunk/jerk.

 _So much for saving me from future embarrassment,_ she thought glumly, almost sure that there was no possible way that could happen.

"Yeah well, a weirdo like you should probably know that a bike has a front _and_ back brake, and that stopping in the middle of a hill incline by using the front break lever and still pedaling can cause injury, whether you grip the brake tightly or not," he chided.

She wanted to be sarcastic in return. Hell, maybe even pretend that nothing embarrassing happened. Keep her cool and play it off.

But she just settled for gaping at the man instead, who was now standing the bike and testing the brakes.

 _What just happened?_

"Well, the good news, I guess, is that your bike here does actually have problems with the brakes. They need way too much force to actually work, causing a sudden stop as you know."

She nodded, having recovered from the shock of his knowledge about bikes. She looked away again, suddenly feeling like she should have researched her bike more.

"Don't worry, I can fix it easy. But the bad news is that I have to get to work soon, so I can't do it right now."

She bit her lip. She didn't actually think he had to be somewhere today. She figured he was just lying to push her to use both feet to pedal but the fact that she was wrong made her feel bad. She completely misread Natsu and the thought didn't sit well with her.

"What do you think I should do?" she asked him suddenly.

He blinked at her and then she saw a childish grin overtake his features.

"Hmm well I know a mechanic who'd be willing to fix it for free. But," he pulled out his watch dramatically at this point, "his shift won't start for another hour, I think," he finished, nodding to himself.

"Mechanic?" she asked dumbfounded. "Isn't that a bit of overkill for a bike?"

He shook his head and chuckled. "The place I'm talking about fixes anything from kiddie tricycles to 18 Wheelers. There's lots of people who fix stuff there, and I heard they even found a guy who knows how to tune up trains recently."

Lucy was in awe. Such a place existed?

"Here," she saw a folded piece of paper being offered to her with an address and a name written on there.

"Salamander?" she asked dubiously.

"Yeah, the mechanic I'm talking about who'll fix your bike for free. He's definitely one of the best mechanics there too," he nodded, mostly to himself.

"Is he like…your cousin or something like that?" she asked the question before she could stop herself.

He looked at her and smiled. "Yeah. Something like that."

* * *

"Fairy Tail?" she blinked at the sign, confused.

 _What kind of place is this?_

She looked at the huge building in front of her, standing at least three stories high. It was huge and looked more like a giant house more than a place for mechanics. There seemed to be a bar and restaurant inside too. But no sign of a garage…

She frowned. Was she tricked? She was actually starting to trust Natsu to help her, but maybe she was being overly optimistic.

 _I mean what kind of stranger would try to help you get your bike fixed for free the same day he meets you?_

She sighed, and started wondering if he had asked her on a date. Not that he _wasn't_ attractive, but lying for a date definitely caused a warning sign in Lucy's head to flash.

She approached the front door cautiously, following the lead of a group of friends, and saw the inside. As the group went over to the bar, Lucy's eyes explored the inside layout. This building definitely gave off a homey feel. There were cobblestone floors and walls, with a few huge support beams to hold the upper level, which Lucy couldn't see clearly from where she stood. Around the inside, wooden benches were carefully organized in a messy pattern around a front stage area, which currently had red velvet curtains draped across it. The bar itself was also wooden and had a few wooden benches surrounding it as well. The staircase to the higher floor was near the bar area, and under the stairs and behind the bar front must have been either a supply room or even a small kitchen, Lucy guessed.

Lucy looked forward and saw a symbol she didn't recognize. She saw that same symbol in the front of the building, near the sign. Was it supposed to be a fairy?

"Oh hello there, would you like a drink?" a soft voice snapped her out of her thoughts. Lucy looked at the girl in front of her. She had long, silver hair with dark blue eyes and had her bangs up in a ponytail above her forehead. She was wearing a black dress with white accessories.

"Ummm..sorry I was looking for a mechanic to fix my bike and was told to come to this address," Lucy pulled out the note and let the silver haired girl take a look at it.

"Ahh you must be looking for the garage. I can take you there, if you want. I'm not the best at giving directions," the girl admitted.

"That would be great. Thanks," Lucy accepted, feeling better. This girl seemed like she was honest, so she doubted she was in trouble but still, she stayed cautious. She'd never been to this side of Magnolia before, so the unfamiliarity unsettled her.

"Hey Lisanna! Please take care of the bar front for me for a few minutes! I'll be right back!" the girl called to another, similar looking silver-haired girl with shorter hair.

"Will do!" the girl with shorter hair, Lisanna, affirmed as she walked behind the bar and began talking to the people sitting around it.

"Sorry about that. I'm Mirajane, though everyone calls me Mira, and I'm usually at the bar front so I had to ask for Lisanna to cover for me," Mira explained.

"I'm Lucy. Sorry for causing you and Lisanna trouble," Lucy apologized.

"It's no problem. Lisanna's trained to work the bar front in case I need to run an errand for Fairy Tail," Mira answered, giggling a little at the apology from Lucy.

Apologies were rare at Fairy Tail.

* * *

They got to Lucy's bike and Mira began leading Lucy to the garage.

"So what is this place exactly? It looks like a bar and restaurant on the inside, but there's a garage for fixing lots of loads of transportation? Next thing you know, you're gonna tell me there's a swimming pool," Lucy exaggerated. _What kind of place, besides a hotel, has all that?_

"The swimming pool is behind the dining area, and it ranges from 3 feet for beginners to 10 feet for more experienced swimmers. We even have three levels of diving boards," Mira chimed in.

"SERIOUSLY!?"

 _Where in the hell was she?_

"Yup, though we don't have a spa or steam room," Mira added as an afterthought.

"Is this a hotel?" Lucy blurted out, feeling red thinking Natsu gave her directions to a hotel.

Mira instead, blinked and giggled. "Of course not silly! We don't have rooms here. Although we do have a property for dormitories not too far from here."

Lucy, at this point was at a loss for words.

"Where in the hell am I?" she whispered, mostly to herself.

"You're at Fairy Tail, silly."

"Well here it is! Just ask Gajeel for _Salamander_ , and you'll be set," Mira informed, emphasizing Salamander with a giggle. However, Lucy didn't catch the change in voice because standing behind Mira, Lucy was trying to catch her breath. She didn't realize how complicated the path to the garage was, but now she understood why Mira offered to walk with her. The place was practically hidden behind the entire building, and since the building was so irregularly shaped, the path had more turns than Lucy expected. She lost Mira a few times because of all the sudden turns.

"T-thanks Mira. But who's Gajeel?"

"Right here, kid," Lucy looked up and saw a dark man with long, unruly black hair and many facial piercings in front of her. _Are those eyes RED?!_

"Well? I'm waiting," the man gruffed. He was definitely buff, and his shirt emphasized that point, but he also had a lot of scars everywhere. He sure was intimidating.

"Gajeel, need I remind you that Makarov doesn't like you snapping at guests," Mira reminded, clearly not scared by the hulking man's presence.

Gajeel growled and stared back, with no intention to back down. Lucy was suddenly scared for Mira; she didn't want to cause a fight.

She wasn't sure how, or why, but eventually, Mira looked away and Gajeel looked back at Lucy, a calmer expression on his features. When she looked at Mira, she smiled back sweetly.

 _What just happened?_

"Bike repair?" Gajeel stated, looking at the yellow bike. His eyes focused on her bell and he chuckled. "Bunny girl much?"

Lucy flushed, completely embarrassed. She happened to like this bunny character, thank you very much, but being called out on it was unexpected. And she had already felt humiliated enough today.

"I'm looking for someone named Salamander," she asserted, desperately trying to change the topic. "Natsu told me he'd fix my bike…for free," she added, unsure if she should have added the last two words.

Gajeel's eyebrows shot up and then he gave an amused laugh (which suspiciously sounded like "geehee") and shook his head with another amused look. Mira, who was still standing next to Gajeel, brought her hand to her cheek and whispered a "oh my".

"Sure, I'll get'em," Gajeel answered and motioned for Lucy to follow him.

"I'll be going back to the bar front now. Good luck with your bike, Lucy. If you don't remember the way back to the front, ask _Salamander_ to lead you back," Mira giggled again, emphasizing Salamander once more, and sprinted back to the winding path. With her eyes closed. In heels.

 _Damn,_ Lucy thought, envious of how unfazed the walk left Mira.

"You coming in or not, Bunny Girl?" Gajeel interjected, sticking his head out of the door. Lucy sighed.

 _How did Mira get Gajeel to calm down earlier?_ Lucy mused as she walked her bike over to the garage door.

* * *

Lucy was sitting on a few huge tires and parked her bike next to her. Gajeel sure was taking long to get Salamander. Lucy, once again for what may have been the fifth time, wandered her eyes over the garage. The floor was cement, but the garage walls, unlike the main buildings, were wooden. There were shelves and indentations for tools to fit everywhere along the walls. Even though this was a garage, the building was still huge and could definitely fit a couple of rows of cars.

 _Though getting the tools from wall to wall may be a hassle_ , Lucy thought.

Suddenly, she heard a door open and stiffened. She turned and saw a blue haired girl stare back. She was short, even shorter than Lucy, and was wearing red reading glasses, a book in hand. She had big, golden brown eyes.

"Hi," the girl began, shifting awkwardly.

"Hi," Lucy repeated, also awkward.

"I'm sorry, do you know where Gajeel is? I had to tell him something," she asked, her eyes looking around the room for said guy.

"Oh, he went through the back door looking for Salamander," Lucy responded, unconsciously pointing at the door.

"Thanks! I'm Levy, by the way," the blue haired girl, Levy, replied, as she extended her hand to Lucy.

"I'm Lucy. Nice to meet you," Lucy returned, shaking Levy's hand. She looked over and saw the title of the book in Levy's other hand.

"Is that 'Protector of the Small' by Tamora Pierce?" Lucy implored. Levy looked startled by the question, but eventually grinned.

"Yeah! Set in the kingdom of Tortall post-Alanna of Trebond," Levy answered, a gleam in her eyes.

"Is that the complete book series or one of the quarters?" Lucy practically yelled excitedly.

"The complete series in one hardcover! Have you read it?" Levy guessed, sitting on the tires by Lucy.

"Yeah a few years ago. A friend let me borrow the hardcover with all the books in it and told me to read it. I swear I couldn't put it down! It was just so good!" Lucy beamed. She hadn't met anyone besides the friend that lent it to her that heard of the book series, much less read it.

"I just finished it! It was really good!" Levy beamed too. Meeting another book lover at Fairy Tail wasn't the easiest thing to do.

"What was your favorite part?" Lucy insisted, ready to talk about Kel for hours.

"Oh that's easy. It was that part where-"

"Shrimp," Lucy heard Gajeel speak and saw Levy smile softly with a small blush on her face. Lucy looked over at Gajeel and saw a smug look on his face.

 _Is that supposed to be a term of endearment or something?_

"There you are Gajeel! I was looking for you," Levy scolded, though Lucy knew she didn't mean it.

"Didn't look like you were looking for me," Gajeel answered, an incredulous eyebrow raised.

"Just because I wasn't actively looking for you doesn't mean I wasn't looking for you," Levy pouted.

Gajeel chuckled. "Whatcha' need Shrimp?"

Levy brightened and held up 'Protector of the Small'. "Thanks for the present! It was such a good book!"

Gajeel chuckled again and kept his eyebrow raised. "Finished it already? I just gave it to you a few hours ago."

Lucy, in the background, sputtered. Didn't Levy just say she just finished it?

 _How fast does that girl read?_

"You know I read faster with these glasses," Levy boasted, sticking her tongue out at Gajeel.

"Glad you liked it Shrimp. The title did remind me of you," Gajeel teased.

 _Are-Are they FLIRTING?_

Lucy's head was spinning. She wasn't sure what could make this day more confusing.

"Hey Luce! You made it!"

Lucy turned and saw Natsu, wearing an open vest and baggy pants, which was definitely different from his casual dragon t-shirt and cargo pants outfit from this morning. He was still wearing his scaly scarf though, but the ends of which were on his back.

"Natsu, what are you doing here?" she questioned, caught off guard.

 _Didn't he say he had to go somewhere? Wait a minute._

Natsu said he could fix her bike but said he had to go somewhere. Salamander was supposed to begin his shift soon and was a mechanic.

Lucy could feel the wheels turning in her head until finally it hit her.

"Don't tell me…Y-YOU'RE SALAMANDER!?" she screamed for what may have been the umpteenth time that day.

Natsu, in turn, just grinned. "Something like that." -

 **A/N: Can I just say I love how this came out and that I'm thinking about writing more but I don't think it will be too many chapter wise. But to be fair, this first chapter is like 12 pages long with a 12 font Times New Roman. So yeah...we'll see how this story goes :3**

 **Original Prompt:** _I know you don't know me, and I_ _ **definitely**_ _don't know you, but you really suck at riding this bike so I'll teach you how to ride right now to save you future embarrassment_ **.**


	2. Learning the Basics

**A/N:** I decided to keep writing the story. I don't think it'll have many chapters, but each chapter seems to be very long.

 **Disclaimer: Sorry bros I don't own FT :( OR Natsu :'(**

* * *

To say that this Saturday was completely calm would be a major understatement.

It started out simply, really. All the blonde wanted was to learn how to ride her bike before college, but found it a lot harder than it seems. One bike crash, a pink haired hunk/jerk, taunting and another crash later, Lucy finds herself in the other side of Magnolia, in front of a bar/restaurant/mechanic's shop/swimming pool/stage building known as Fairy Tail.

And all this happened before dinner time!

Salamander, aka Natsu, did fix her bike for free, even though Gajeel shot snide remarks about it for most of the repair work. Natsu mostly ignored him and talked to Lucy about bike maintenance and tips to ride easily. The atmosphere in the garage was fairly light despite the arguing between the two until Gajeel made a specific remark.

Something about how Lucy must have been a special kind of mage to have changed a "lazy ass into getting into work on time to work his ass off, _for free_ , for some damn yellow bunny bike."

Natsu just glared back at Gajeel every now and then, and retorted something along the lines of how at least he didn't go from "Black Steel Gajeel to a cuddly teddy bear in a matter of months."

 _Whatever that means,_ Lucy mulled during their conversation.

At that point, Natsu and Gajeel were both glaring daggers at each other, Lucy's bike almost completely forgotten about. Lucy looked over at Levy imploringly while the other shrugged off the behavior.

Lucy blinked, realizing this must have happened before. Many times, if all it earned was a shrug from Gajeel's…wait, what were they exactly?

Before Lucy had time to ask, Natsu and Gajeel had _literally_ begun fighting each other and again, Lucy looked at Levy for some help.

Levy just giggled lightly and before Lucy could ask what mess she got myself into, Levy walked over to the bike and moved it next to her.

Within seconds of sitting down again, Natsu came flying back in their direction and hit the aluminum trashcan, near where the bike had once been.

"Natsu!" Lucy yelled and instinctively went towards him, her head darting between Natsu to Gajeel and back a few times before she heard Natsu grab his head and curse at Gajeel for such a "weak throw". Gajeel just chuckled from across the room, moving closer to the group.

Gajeel ignored Natsu's demands for a rematch and opted to smirk at Levy instead. "You know my attacks pretty well Shrimp."

She giggled back. "Just enough to not get hurt by a flying opponent of yours."

 _Their flirting never ceases to amaze me,_ Lucy thought, and looked back over to the source of curses near a trashcan.

* * *

"Are you sure you're going to be ok?"

"Tch-this is nothing. You should've seen the other guy," he protested, wincing the tightening bandage being wrapped around his head.

"I did…I was there, remember? And from what I saw, the other guy sent _you_ flying while he walked out, _unscathed_ ," she teased, using a metal clip to secure the bandages together.

Natsu grumbled as he went over to sit by the bike again and finish tightening the new brakes. Lucy couldn't help but laugh at his childish behavior. He may have been a jerk, a hunk and know a lot about bikes, but in the end, he was still a teenager who did stupid things from time to time.

For some reason, the thought comforted Lucy.

"There. It's done," he announced, motioning for Lucy to take the bike.

"Can I try out the brakes before I go?" Lucy asked, looking over the brakes and not being able to tell the difference between the attachments.

"By riding the bike in here?" he questioned, and without even looking, Lucy knew he was smirking with the implication on his lips.

She felt her eyebrows twitch.

"FINE! Then YOU ride it!" Lucy growled in response.

She saw Natsu flinch at her, then he quickly looked away.

 _So he can say stuff about me but I can't call him out? Oh hell no!_

The blonde stomped over to the front of the pink- haired man and then crouched to look at his face, an angry expression set on her features.

Lucy was expecting something, of course. Fear would have been the preferred expression, but she expected him to have a feigned fearful look. What she had not expected to see was a pale, almost green face with a hand covering his mouth and a shaky inhale and exhale. His eyes were wide and his brow was sweating slightly.

"H-hey. Are you ok?" she blurted, feeling a bit guilty for his condition. Even though she hadn't known him long, she was pretty sure he couldn't fake this.

Natsu nodded weakly, but she heard him chase down some puke.

 _He's really sick,_ she thought, guilt welling up inside her once more. _Was he pretending he wasn't hurt as bad before? Was he just trying to seem tough?_

"D-don't…" Natsu mumbled, before closing his mouth again.

"Don't?" Lucy repeated carefully.

"Talk…about," Natsu whimpered at Lucy heard him swallow the bile back.

 _Ew._

"Transportation," Natsu finished, panting to regain his breathing speed. Lucy sat there, in silence.

"Don't talk about transportation," Lucy parroted, putting his sentence together. He nodded weakly again and she blinked.

"YOU HAVE MOTION SICKNESS?"

Natsu whined and held his ears briefly, before holding his mouth again.

"How-" was all she was able to say before Natsu's puke hit her shoes.

 _Once again. Ew._

* * *

"Is he really gonna be ok?" Lucy asked, for what seemed to be the fourth time that day.

"Yes. He just needs to rest a bit. His usual motion sickness and running fatigue caused him to faint. Lucky for you, he seems to have only had a light snack this morning," the older, pink-haired woman confirmed.

 _Yeah that's me. Good ol' Lucky Lucy Heartfilia,_ she thought sarcastically, looking at dry socks.

The older woman gathered her supplies and looked again at Lucy. "Make sure you notify me when he wakes up," she finished, as she walked towards the door.

"Wait! Are you gonna wait until then?" Lucy questioned from the seat next to Natsu's bed.

"There's no point in me doing so. He's stable and just needs sleep. My presence, or lack thereof, will not change his recovery process therefore there is nothing more I can do until he wakes up," she answered smoothly, then looked back at Lucy, "Besides, I hate humans," she finished and closed the door.

Lucy, meanwhile, was left gaping. _What the hell is up with this place? And the people here?_ She wondered, remembering what happened after Natsu became unconscious.

* * *

Right after Natsu threw up his "light snack" at Lucy's feet, he fainted on her shoulder. It took Lucy a full second before the reality of the situation hit her.

She pulled Natsu off her shoulder and leaned him on the tire, away from his puke, and ran around the garage, trying to find Levy or Gajeel, but couldn't. Lucy looked back at Natsu, who stayed unmoved against the tire. Her only hope was to go to the main building and ask Mira for help.

She stepped out of the building and ran around the corners, cursing her shoes and the complex turns. Eventually, she got to the front wooden doors and opened them, while panting. She didn't let herself get sidetracked though, so she soon jogged to Mira and told her what happened.

Mira seemed surprised Natsu fainted but not about the motion sickness.

 _Guess he was telling the truth,_ Lucy affirmed, once more feeling guilty for not believing Natsu.

"Can someone please go to the garage, get Natsu and take him to the Infirmary?" Mira called, getting the attention of the building's current populace.

 _There's an Infirmary here too?!_ Lucy mentally screamed to herself.

"Doesn't Flame Brain have legs? He can _walk_ there," a dark haired man sneered in return.

 _What's with all the nicknames for Natsu?_ Lucy mused before snapping herself out of it.

"He fainted," Lucy defended, raising her voice a bit.

The same dark haired man laughed humorlessly, "that idiot."

Lucy turned to glare at him full force, but then quickly turned away, her face flushing lightly.

 _What happened to his-_

"Gray, your shirt!" a woman yelled from the bar. She had long, brown hair with violet eyes and was nursing a glass of wine.

"What the-!" Gray sputtered, confused. He cursed then began looking around for his shirt.

Lucy heard some light snickers near her and mumbled words that sounded like "stripping habits."

 _Stripping habits?_

"I'll go! 'Cause I'm a real man!" A big man called, a scar obvious on his face and his white hair spiked behind his head.

"Or so you say…" A woman with glasses, light chocolate brown hair arranged into a bun, and wearing a tight, green dress and furry jacket muttered venomously.

"Ever!" The man yelled, turning his attention to her.

"Don't you raise your voice at me Elf!" she sassed back, unaware of the irony of her words.

They began an argument, and Lucy heard something about "manliness" or "lack thereof" and Lucy couldn't help but flinch.

 _Gajeel and Levy were perfect compared to these two,_ Lucy rationalized, based on the "raised voices" arguing back and forth. However, at second glance, Elf and Ever were…smiling? Lucy blinked in confusion.

 _No that can't be right…_

"Well, I guess Bixlow and I can go," a long, green haired man chimed in, albeit unenthusiastically.

 _Finally, someone with sense!_ Lucy couldn't help but think gratefully.

"Careful, he's puked though," Lucy added as she reached the front doors.

"Puke?" the green haired man froze, seeming a bit under the weather himself.

"Get going then!" Mira urged, as she shined the cups with a rag.

"Ugh…the utter horror of bile being sprayed anywhere near Fairy Tail," Freed muttered, moving unsteadily. He threw himself at a nearby chair.

"C'mon Freed, let's go before he pukes again," the man with a mostly covered face, who Lucy guessed was named Bixlow, called as he walked to the front doors.

"Again!?" Freed shrilled at the possibility.

"He did seem a bit green…" Lucy piped in, noticing Freed's similar state.

"Let's go Freed," Bixlow chuckled, pulling Freed to his feet.

Freed fought back though, obviously not willing to interact with vomit. Looking at his pale and sickly green looking skin tone, Lucy couldn't help but think that maybe it was better for Freed _not_ to go help Natsu. "I didn't sign up for a potentially actively puking Natsu! Just an unconscious, Natsu who already finished puking!"

Freed and Bixlow began arguing about whether to go or not and Lucy couldn't help but side with Freed. They were supposed to pick up one unconscious person, not two.

"Did he get sick because of his motion sickness? How easily did he get sick this time?" Gray chimed in, now wearing his shirt.

"Well, I just mentioned he ride my bike to test the brakes, and he got sick and threw up after that," Lucy answered helpfully.

Gray just smirked, failing to hide his laughter, "What a dumbass. Seriously, motion sickness has got to be the weirdest thing-"

"Gray! Your pants!" the same woman from the bar hollered, her voice a bit more slurred.

"DAMMIT I JUST HAD THOSE ON!" Gray began his search for his clothes again, this time more urgently.

Lucy just sighed; as weird as motion sickness is, a stripping habit was much weirder in her opinion.

 _The irony._

A dispute broke out in the building, the main conversation breaking apart into smaller conversations and before Lucy could try to speak up again, a chair was thrown. If Lucy had blinked, she would've missed the moment of silence before all hell broke loose. Everything was being thrown, fights broke out, food dropped, and that was just what Lucy saw.

"Mira?" Lucy whine, looking towards the barmaid.

"Oh don't worry. This won't last long," Mira assured with a smile.

While Mira turned to look at her, a chair came flying toward the bar. "Mira! Watch out!" Lucy yelled frantically, trying to get Mira to duck. Mira looked back at her confused and was hit with the chair, soon falling afterwards.

Lucy felt herself slide to the floor. "Mira's down too," she mumbled softly, but the chaos in the building buried her voice.

 _What the hell is happening?_

"Are you alright, my lady?" she heard and saw an outstretched hand offered to her. She took it and saw a man with tinted glasses, pleasant smile and what looked like, and she swore she was telling the truth, orange with a bit of brown undertone hair arranged carefully with hair product.

"Yes?" she cautiously answered.

"Great. A lady such as yourself should not linger around here during this free-for-all," the man continued, and Lucy felt herself frown.

"I can take pretty good care of myself," she contended. She was confused and surprised by the sudden turn of events, but she was still new here; she had a right to be a little confused and surprised.

"Of course," he smiled in response, "Would you let me escort you somewhere else though. This environment isn't the best for conversation," he continued and Lucy was growing annoyed.

"Actually, I'd prefer help moving Natsu to the Infirmary," she quipped and she saw the man flinch before regaining his composure.

"Ah y-yes of course. We can go to Natsu first, assure he's well, and then go to a nice restaurant, get acquainted-"

"LOKE YOU BASTARD THAT'S WHERE YOU WENT!"

The man, Loke, was tackled on the floor by Gray and they began rolling on the floor, exchanging various hits. Lucy mentally thanked Gray for his impeccable timing and looked again at the mess in front of her.

 _Someone help me._

Lucy didn't hear the doors open behind her. Or the boots and armor clank with each confident step forward through the wooden double doors.

She did, however, hear a low growl.

"EVERYONE SHUT UP!"

Everyone stopped and looked simultaneously at the new presence. As Lucy turned her head, she saw fear etched into everyone's faces,

 _Fear?_

She saw a red-haired woman stand at front, hands on her hips, brown eyes furrowed slightly, and her mouth curved into a small frown. What Lucy really noticed was the air of confidence she exuded.

The confidence that said if you questioned her, you died.

 _S-Scary._

"Now, does anyone mind telling me what's going on?"

Lucy felt dozens of eyes staring at her form.

She gulped and raised her shaking hand, her voice also shaking. "I-I can tell you," she squeaked.

The red-head turned to Lucy, her features transitioning from quiet anger to startled bewilderment.

"Who are you?" she asked, softer but still as firm.

* * *

"I see, so he fainted?"

Lucy nodded, overenthusiastic.

The woman, known as Erza, sighed.

"Alright then. Gray, go get him!"

"What!?" he sputtered.

"Did I stutter?" she asked, raising her brow.

Lucy had never seen someone run so fast in her entire life.

"Everything's a mess. Elfman, Bixlow, fix the tables and chairs around here. Freed, Loke, clean up the spills around, including the back of the bar. Do not take anything from there you are not planning to pay for…." Erza continued, giving orders and coordinating the group of rowdy people into an organized unit.

 _Holy crap._

By the time Gray came through the front doors with Natsu, the building inside was so clean, there was practically a shine.

 _How did she do that? I want to do that!_

* * *

 **A/N:** I present the guild. Hopefully, I got the madness of the guild close but a little different too! I gotta say though, Erza was the most fun to write for.

Let me know what you think ^_^


	3. Finding a Balance

**A/N: Life has been kind of crazy these past few weeks! Busy and headache inducing at some points but it's FINALLY getting lighter and easier! Anyway, here's chapter 3!**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own Natsu, Lucy or FT! Mashima sensei wouldn't even let me borrow Natsu D:**

* * *

She sighed and couldn't help but remember that's exactly how the day started. A drawn out sigh. Except this time, Lucy wasn't in her bedroom mulling over the idea of going outside in an effort to teach herself how to ride a bike. The day, the crazy, hectic, unpredictable day was finally coming to an end, marked by the sun's decent and clash with the horizon.

"Aw c'mon you're not still mad about it, are you?" he whined, for what was the umpteenth time during their mostly silent walk.

She looked away, and couldn't help a slight blush on her face.

"Depends on what you mean," she retorted, really not wanting to pay the pink haired idiot walking behind her any more attention.

"Oh c'mon it's not my fault! I wasn't _trying_ to make you cry or throw up on you!"

"Oh great, so you made me cry _without_ trying? And you threw up on my shoes _without_ aiming?"

Natsu snorted and huffed in frustration. Lucy supposed she could see where he was coming from but at the same time couldn't help be at least a little bit upset.

Natsu was a hot idiot, who, admittedly was a pretty good mechanic but she would be damned if that gave him a free pass for being an absolute idiot in front of everyone at Fairy Tail.

 _Even if his stuttering was kind of cute,_ she mentally added to her train of thought.

* * *

 ** _Earlier at Fairy Tail_**

He opened his eyes and saw a different ceiling than the one he was expecting. Gone was the wooden ceiling with an overhead fan light and unleaded smell arresting his nostrils and instead being replaced with a clean, sterilized white surface. And white background. He grimaced at the smell of disinfectants and knew exactly where he was at that moment.

Natsu Dragneel had landed himself in Fairy Tail's Infirmary, for vomiting of all things.

He starting getting up, in an attempt to play off his sickness and felt the world spin slightly. Which then caused his motion sickness to stir once more. He closed his eyes and tried to think of things to ground him, like fixing things.

Ever since he was young, his one joy from living with his adoptive father, Igneel, had come from fixing things. His father was a hell of a mechanic, after all. He even branded all his projects with a light red dragon sketch, to create his name.

Eventually, the people of Caelum came to call Igneel the Fire Dragon King.

It became his brand, and his legacy. Even though they weren't rich, nothing was more satisfying to Igneel and Natsu than to spend their weekends looking through scarp yards and yard sales for a 'missing piece' to an unknown project.

 _"What you need isn't always something you look for and find," his father once told him, when he complained about scraping around for nothing. "More than once, you'll find yourself wandering around, like today, not knowing what you need. But I can guarantee ya, Natsu, once you find the piece you didn't know you were missin'-"_

He was snapped out of his reverie by a gentle hand resting on his shoulder. Shocked, he looked to his side and saw a strangely familiar blonde smile at him.

"Seems like you're among the living now," she spoke softly, with a small smile on her lips.

Natsu couldn't help the smile appear on his lips reflexively .

"Weirdo."

* * *

"You sure you're ok?" she asked, dodging the flying food crumbs coming from her left.

"Yeah! I guess I just needed some sleep," he cheered, forcing his past sickness nonchalantly. He continued scarfing his food down, seeming as if he hadn't eaten in months.

 _Maybe even years,_ she thought, rolling her eyes at his overreaction. She poked at her food too, a simple Caesar Salad since the vomit flying to her shoe left her hunger to a minimum.

"Are you sure? Last time you said you were ok, I ended up with vomit on my shoes and dragging an idiot to an unknown infirmary. I'd like to avoid a repeat," Lucy deadplanned, seeing past his supposed nonchalance.

"HEY YOU WERE THE ONE THAT GOT ME TO THINK ABOUT YOUR BIKE!" he screamed, though his voice still managed to be faint in the hum of the bar around them.

"YEAH WELL MAYBE IF YOU HADN'T BEEN A SMARTASS I WOULDN'T'VE MENTIONED THE BRAKES!" she retorted, in the same volume as him. That, and his unearthly hunger, seemed to be enough to keep him relatively calm because he seemed to shrink back down after a pause and protesting stomach.

They continued eating in silence, with the exception of a messily eating Natsu and occasionally scolding Lucy. It was strangely comfortable, and almost felt routine.

As if this was a normal day for the pair.

"So why are you even trying to learn to ride a bike anyway? Isn't it something people have learned by now?" he asked, his mouth full of his "lunch special". When Lucy saw the plate, it looked like every pepper and spice in existence.

In one serving.

And Natsu was chewing at it all like it was _candy_.

"Well I didn't learn how to ride a bike as a kid. It didn't seem…important to learn," she answered earnestly, tugging at the hem of her shirt. She just…didn't want to talk about it.

Not yet and most definitely not there.

Natsu must have noticed the shift in mood because a silence ensued once more. Lucy heard him chew loudly at his food, and continued to avoid his gaze, not even turning to scold his poor table manners.

"Do you need help learning?" he suddenly asked, and that caused Lucy to look at him.

"But I thought you got motion sickness," she retorted, to which he rolled his eyes.

"Not _me_ weirdo," Natsu snorted.

"Then who?" Lucy questioned, furrowing her brow. She was getting suspicious.

"Mira!" he exclaimed, as he grinned with a mouth full of food.

"Mira?" Lucy blurted, unsure she heard right.

"Mira!" he nodded.

"Why Mira?" Lucy contended, unsure why Mira was being volunteered.

"Why _not_ Mira?" he countered, as if Mira was the only real choice.

"My oh my," they both heard a gentle voice say.

"Oh sorry were we being too loud?" Lucy wondered, quickly looking around to make sure they weren't making a scene.

"Oh don't worry about it. So what's this I hear about you not being able to ride a bike?" Mira urged, changing the topic seamlessly.

"I-It's not that I don't know how to, it's just that I don't know how to do so without falling-"

"And she falls a lot too," Natsu muttered.

"Thanks Natsu," Lucy bit back, glaring.

"Anytime," he grinned childishly.

"Wait so what's this about bikes?" Gray asked, leaning in from his bar stool.

"Lucy's trying to learn how to ride a bike," Mira responded easily.

"What? And she asked this Flame Brain to teach her? He has _motion sickness_ ," Gray snarked, most likely remembering the day's earlier events.

"Yeah, but I also have my clothes on," Natsu shot back, not even looking at Gray's way.

"Aw c'mon I was _just_ wearing those," Gray yelled, starting to looking around for his clothes while half-naked.

"Darling, I'll help you look," a blue haired girl volunteered, happily jumping from her seat and searching.

"I can do it Juvia. Don't worry," Gray insisted.

Before long, the bar was a mess once more.

 _This sure does happen a lot_ , Lucy thought.

"Hey Lucy, what about if Lisanna and I give you some pointers? After all, we taught most of the people here how to ride their bikes," Mira offered to Lucy during the chaos.

"Really Mira?" Lucy asked, looking at Mira in surprise.

"Sure I don't see why not! I can ask Kinana to switch shifts with me for whenever you want to practice."

Lucy's eyes sparkled.

"Would tomorrow be too soon?" she implored with Mira.

"Why are you rushing to learn now anyway?" Natsu interrupted, from out of nowhere.

"It's a lot more important to me to learn now," Lucy answered, with a shift in her voice.

Natsu and Mira blinked at her, confused by the sharp transition.

Suddenly, the air became tenser, the ensuing silence weighing heavily on the previously playful atmosphere.

"In that case, I'll go too," Natsu finally chimed in.

"You want to go too? Why? I'm sure Mira and Lisanna will be able to-"

"I'm sure they can teach you what they know about…bikes. But you might crash your bike or something, and have to bring it back all the way here for me to fix it. I might as well go and save you the trip."

"…Natsu," she felt her eyes sparkle again.

"That's what friends are for, right?" he smiled back.

Lucy blinked.

"Friends?"

"He's right you know. Even though you've only been here for one day, you've really fit in," Mira chimed in.

"Really?" she turned to Mira, looking at her in shock.

"Mira's right, Lu," Levy added, sitting next to Lucy.

"Levy?"

"I know we just met, but I still consider you a good friend with awesome taste in books," Levy cheerily finished.

"And if you can get Salamander to come to work on time, you're ok in my book, Bunny Girl," a much deeper voice spoke.

"Gajeel?" she turned to look at him and he looked away, shrugging.

"Of course we can always be more than friends if you wish to get acquainted over dinner at any time you wish," Lucy felt another arm wrap around her shoulders possessively.

"Thanks but no thanks Loke," Lucy corrected, taking the arm off her shoulders.

"Plus you seem to keep grounded when everyone else is in a mess," Lucy turned and saw Erza smile back at her.

"Definitely not as much as you, though Erza. I'm still new to this place so I'm sure you'd all go on without me around anyway," Lucy reassured, a bit embarrassed by all the attention she was getting.

"Is that so? 'Cause I can't imagine a world where Lucy isn't freaking out about everything or talking with Levy about books or earning begrudging respect from Gajeel or rejecting Loke. Maybe some people will do one or two of those things but only Lucy does all those things," Natsu stated.

She looked around and felt the immediate group around her send her warm smiles and, in Gajeel's case, a begrudging nod.

"You're Lucy from Fairy Tail now! And Fairy Tail will always be your home," Natsu finished, a smile on his face.

"My…home…" she repeated, slowly accepting the words. She felt the warmth from everyone's kindness swell her heart.

She couldn't help herself. She didn't know she was holding anything in. All she knew was that her vision was getting blurry and she felt thin trails of water dripping in streams down her cheeks.

"H-hey Lucy!" Natsu awkwardly spoke after noticing her tears.

He expected a smile, a thoughtful look, anything but tears! He was not good with tears, especially girls tears.

Just then, he heard her sob harder.

"Natsu, maybe you should take Lucy home," Mira suggested softly, shooing away everyone.

Seemed she could guess the mood.

"Y-yeah…I guess that's best," Natsu replied awkwardly, shuffling his feet, unsure of how to get to Lucy's house without inconsiderately asking her for directions.

Luckily for him, she began walking on her own.

* * *

 ** _Current Time_**

"But I didn't even say something mean to you," he argued and Lucy had to admit, she was impressed he kept trying so hard.

She sighed again. She swore she was really starting to cut into her air reserves in her lungs.

"I know," she whispered as she stopped walking. She didn't turn to him, nor make a move; she stayed motionless for a bit and so did he.

"I'm just happy, you know? Because I didn't know what I was missing, at least not until going to Fairy Tail," Lucy voiced.

 _"But I can guarantee you, Natsu, once you find the piece you didn't know you were missing, building something new with that missing piece, makes everything worth it,"_

Natsu smiled back fondly at the memory. "I know exactly what you mean," he mumbled back to her.

* * *

 **A/N: Here's hoping everything is progressing smoothly. Let me know what you think ^_^**


	4. Stay Steady

**A/N: AAHHHHH LIFE HAPPENED! Sorry for the belated update, but here's part 4. This is pretty short compared to other chapters but I hope you like it!**

I finished most of this chapter a while ago but wasn't sure how to finish it naturally so I left it alone for about a month apparently. Then, earlier today, part of the dialogue popped into my head and I just had to add to this chapter.

 **Disclaimer: So I was planning to steal Natsu when Mashima-sensei wasn't looking but then I ran into Zeref _ So, my plans of borrowing Natsu were foiled again D:**

* * *

Lucy had always thought she was an independent person. Even if she acted bratty and spoiled sometimes, for the most part she could hold her own. She learned self-defense to make sure she could handle herself in a fight, if the opportunity ever arose. She had pepper spray in her bag and constantly kept her keys in her hand when walking at night, to act as pseudo-brass knuckles.

Yup. She thought she was pretty independent, strong and smart at her age.

That being said, she had to admit, she felt a bit more at ease walking at home with Natsu. Even if she still didn't know him that well, she just felt so comfortable around him.

It was weird, but so was the entire day. She didn't expect to be out of her house for more than a few hours at a time, much less the whole day. Usually, she spent part of her time-

"Oh my god!" she screamed, suddenly starting to walk faster. Natsu's footsteps sped up behind her.

"Lucy what's wrong?" Natsu called out for her, running up next to her.

"Plue! I have to feed Plue! And take him for a walk! I can't believe I forgot!" she yelled, her pace picking up to a sprint.

"What's a Plue?" Natsu asked, easily matching her sprint.

Lucy didn't answer, instead focusing on the street in front of her. She still couldn't believe she forgot. She prided herself on being an excellent pet owner and had never once forgotten to take care of Plue. Never.

Or at least, not until today.

 _I'm so sorry Plue!_ She apologized mentally as she ran as fast as possible.

* * *

Lucy was learning to expect the unexpected from Natsu. A mechanic who gets motion sickness. A fighter with a cute stutter. She didn't think he could shock her anymore.

"Wait you mean to tell me that _that_ …is a Plue?!"

 _Guess I was wrong,_ she thought as she watched Natsu step back from Plue and point a shaking finger at him. She sighed and nodded and watched as he looked at Plue from all angles. It was as if he'd never seen a dog before.

 _Wait…_

" _This_ is a **dog** _named_ Plue. I've had him for years now, and I always feed him and take him for a walk, even when I'm sick!"

She was starting to wonder if he had ever seen a dog. Sure Plue didn't look like the usual dog in magazines and movies but Lucy thought he had enough of the characteristics to be qualified as a dog.

 _Even if he's allergic to everything. And bald at the moment,_ she mentally sighed.

"So you ran down half of Magnolia, at a pretty impressive speed I might add, just because you missed Plue's walk and feeding time?" Natsu questioned, looking at her as if she grew two heads.

"Yeah. Just because of that," she deadplanned and looked at him seriously.

"…"

Lucy sighed and picked up Plue's shaking body. "Look, Plue means a lot me. He's my first pet and I got him around the time…"

She stopped talking again and Natsu noticed her pet Plue while pausing.

"Around the time?" he cautiously approached the subject.

Lucy looked up and for a second he saw a different Lucy. Not the weirdo he knew and for some reason, it unnerved him. Lucy's eyes widened and she turned away from him.

"Look Plue's just been with me through a lot and he's special to me. And, even though he's a pet, he's still a living being that needs to eat and be social, ok?" Her voice was steady and calm, it sounded like her but for some reason, Natsu wasn't convinced he was hearing Lucy.

But before he got the chance to tell her that, her words sunk in.

"…Needs to eat…" he mumbled to himself and she turned to face him.

 _She looks like Lucy again_ , he noted as he made sure he had his keys, wallet and phone with him.

"You remember that you already ate right?" she asked as he headed for the door.

"Gotta go!" he opened the door and ran out.

"Hey wait, where should I meet Mira, Lisanna and you tomorrow?" she ran to the door and yelled at his retreating figure.

"The park from this morning! 8am!" she heard him shout back.

"Um ok?"

But by then, he was gone.

Natsu made it to his house, panting and sweating slightly. He ran home.

He creaked the rustic door of his home open, noting the loose spider webs gathering on the top left corner.

 _I can get those later,_ he thought to himself, half knowing he wouldn't get to it until _later_ later.

As soon as he fully entered, he readied his arms as if to cradle something _._ In seconds, he felt a familiar rough tuff of fur in his arms. The tuff wiggled to get comfortable and held Natsu's gaze with big almond-shaped eyes for a second before opening its mouth.

"MEOW"

"Sorry Happy. I came back later than I thought," he said while petting the disgruntled, wiggling cat. Happy jumped (practically darting through the air like a bullet) from his arms and looked back at Natsu.

"MREOW"

"Ok ok, hold on," Natsu said, partially following Happy to his food bowl. Sometimes, he wondered if his cat was really smart or really food motivated. Well, fish food motivated.

Natsu fed Happy the canned fish-flavored food and watched him gobble away at it excitedly, but whether it was because he was fed late or because it was his favorite fish-flavor, Natsu wasn't sure.

Natsu headed for his room and climbed into his hammock. Despite his motion sickness, it was the only bed Natsu could sleep on well.

"meow" he heard tiny footprints approach him and then Happy's small grunt before he jumped into the hammock with him.

Natsu scratched the spot between Happy's ears and earned a content purr in response.

" _Look, Plue means a lot me. He's my first pet and I got him around the time…"_

Natsu felt Happy move to his side and lay down, his purring fading as he fell asleep.

 _I guess she's not completely weird._

* * *

She knew her life changed after meeting Natsu and going to Fairy Tail. She knew her life would keep changing because she had to meet Natsu, Mira and Lisanna at the park for who knew how long until she learned to ride her bike, which would take weeks with her luck. She was fully aware of the amount of change she was going to undergo just by hanging out with them.

But she was not prepared for this.

She woke up to her front door's knob wiggle relentlessly as the person on the other side kept trying to open it. As soon as that realization hit, her eyes popped open and she grabbed anything near her, which happened to be a heavy paperback she was reading. She tiptoed through her room and grabbed her keys from her desk, reflexively putting them around her fingers.

She continued to tiptoe through her house and realized the wiggling doorknob had stopped wiggling.

She loosened her grip on her items and sighed. _Maybe just a drunk neighbor_ , she thought as she shrugged it off.

She sighed again and walked back to her room.

"Who gets drunk at 6am anyway?" she mumbled to herself, putting her keys down.

"I know a few people," a gruff voice responded. An increasingly familiar gruff voice.

"WHY ARE YOU IN MY ROOM!?"

* * *

 **A/N: I just** _ **had**_ **to end the chapter this way.**

As always, please feel free to let me know how I'm doing.


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